Emerging
by txfantasystar
Summary: When Cesia is kidnapped, Rath goes to rescue her. Coming back to the castle, they both learn that they have to grow up fast. SEMI-PERMANENT HIATUS
1. Chapter One: Lost

**Disclaimer: Hello there! I don't own Dragon Knights. ****Mineko Ohkami does. But I am a proud owner of every book in the series. I also own a cowboy hat. But that's beside the point.**

**Rating: T. Because I said so...although right now it's probably closer to K+ rated. But that's okay.**

**Emerging**

**Chapter One: Lost**

* * *

The Dragon Tribe was holding a meeting. Rath, Thatz, Rune, Ruwalk, and Tetheus were, at least. Rath was pacing restlessly around the room while That and Rune sat on a couch watching Ruwalk fiddle nervously behind the Dragon Lord's desk, as he was acting as such while Lyokeon was sick, and Tetheus was leaning against the door frame looking quite calm.

"You don't understand!" Rath suddenly exclaimed, startling Rune out of his thoughts.

"Rath, we can't send you, Rune, and Thatz into the heart of enemy territory to get Cesia back. It's too dangerous..." Ruwalk replied, already exasperated with the situation.

"It's more dangerous to leave her there! Here mere presence is strengthening their power!" Rath explained, still pacing restlessly.

"It doesn't matter, Rath. We can't send you there, and you know it," Ruwalk argued, standing up and glaring at Rath angrily.

"You're only digging us into a deeper hole! If you can't send me, at least send someone! Send them!" Rath retorted, glaring back at Ruwalk as he gestured towards his fellow Dragon Knights.

Rune sighed as he looked at Rath. "Calm down, Rath. We can't go into the heart of enemy territory, especially if Cesia is increasing their power like you say. It's suicide!"

"If we don't get her back, they win!" Rath hissed at Ruwalk.

"Rath, it's too dangerous to send anyone, much less the he--you," Ruwalk replied loudly, as calmly as he could. There was a slight pause before he whispered softly, "Especially with Lyokeon sick..."

"Oh, so that's what this is about?! You can't send your heir into enemy territory?!" he yelled back, causing Thatz to jump.

Rune turned to Ruwalk, "WAIT! _Rath_is the Dragon Lord's heir?!" he exclaimed while Thatz's jaw dropped.

"It's a long story..." Ruwalk sighed, "But that's exactly it, Rath. With Lyokeon sick, we can't risk losing his heir as well. So, we can't let you go."

Rath leaned closer to Ruwalk. "She has the Dragon Eyes," he whispered to the officer.

"What?!" He exclaimed loudly, even startling Tetheus enough to look over, "How..."

"He's right, Ruwalk," Tetheus interjected, leaving the Yellow Officer to wonder if he was the only one who hadn't been informed of this detail.

"So we have to go get her, right Ruwalk?" Rath continued, unfazed by Tetheus' interruption.

"Well...yes...but you still can't go!"

"Why not?" the Fire Knight exclaimed angrily.

Ruwalk sighed. "We've been through this Rath. You're the he--"

"I won't be if you don't let me go! I'll refuse to take the throne when the wimp dies! I'll leave and never come back, and then the kingdom will fall --"

"That's blackmail," Ruwalk hissed.

"But you can't risk it," Rath replied with a grin, knowing he'd won.

Ruwalk let out a big sigh. "Okay. Go. Take Thatz and Rune..." Ruwalk replied, defeated.

"But...how do we get there...?" Rune asked carefully.

"There's a demon in the city that's been terrorizing people by opening portals to the Demon Lands. Find him." Tetheus spoke up, walking out the door.

Rath grabbed Rune and Thatz's arms, pulling them with him as he ran out the door. Ruwalk watched them leave before sitting back down in Lyokeon's chair. "...how do you deal with that boy...?" he questioned the absent man, closing his eyes. He hated letting Rath go off with Lyokeon sick, but they couldn't risk him abdicating the throne. Not with the state things were currently in.

* * *

After a half hour of wondering through the broken city, the Dragon Knights came upon a demon-looking creature with its back turned to them. It was standing next to a portal-looking swirl, so Thatz pointed at it. "That's him, right?"

"Yup. C'mon." Rath replied, running foreward to the black pool and jumping in.

"Just great..." Rune complained as he and Thatz jumped in behind him before the demon could notice.

The other side of the portal led to a barren plateau, where they saw Rath already looking over the edge. Thatz went up behind Rath. "That the castle?" he questioned, looking at the building ahead. Rath nodded, looking down into the Sea of the Dead below them.

"How do we get there?" Rune asked, staring worriedly at the Sea. Rath looked at him and shrugged before glancing at their surroundings once again.

"Uh...guys? Company..." Thatz hissed, looking behind them. Rath and Rune turned to see the group of Yokai that had appeared while they had been castle-watching.

"I have an idea..." Rath whispered. Rune and Thatz looked at him, "We get captured. They'll take us to the castle and then we can rescue Cesia." The other two nodded carefully and they started attacking the Yokai, making sure to not beat them up before the Knights could get toted into the castle.

The battle was quick as the Dragon Knights killed all but the three strongest demons before getting dragged towards the Demon Lord's Castle.

"Well, Rath...your plan worked..." Thatz drawled as they were dragged through the dungeons by three very upset and newly lonely demons.

"She's here..." Rath said absentmindedly as he felt her power, ignoring Thatz completely as he broke out of his Yokai captor's hold before killing him. He helped free his teammates quickly. "C'mon, we need to find her," he explained, running towards the power he felt, following an invisible path. Rune and Thatz ran after him, confused as to how Rath knew this, but trusting him just the same.

* * *

Cesia had felt the Dragon Knights as soon as the entered the castle. She had been praying that they would come rescue her, so now she sat silently, willing them towards the room she was kept in. Cesia was relieved. Even if she didn't get along with the insufferable Fire Dragon Knight, she knew that he could rescue her, and trusted that he would. She turned towards the door as she heard a commotion down the hallway. She ran to the door, flinging it open to see that the guards usually stationed by her door to keep her in had deserted their posts to deal with the commotion, caused by Rune and Thatz. She felt someone grab her from behind and elbowed him in the side, spinning quickly and ready to attack again.

"Gah! Cesia! I'm here to _rescue _you!" Rath exclaimed, clutching his side and gasping to get back his breath.

"Oh! Rath!" Cesia exclaimed, latching her arms around his neck, "You came to rescue me!"

"'Course I did!" he replied, trying to untangle himself, "You're the--" he cut off, not wanting to give away too much to the just-rescued girl.

Cesia detached herself from him with skeptical look. "I'm the what?" she questioned.

"No time. Let's go," he replied, grabbing her srist and dragging her back towards Rune and Thatz, whose defeated foes lay unmoving on the ground. They hurried back to the castle's entryway, where a portal to the Dragon Kingdom had been opened. They picked through the remains of the city and back into the castle carefully, Rath dragging Cesia along behind him none-too-pleasantly.

"Thank God you're safe!" Ruwalk exclaimed when they came through the gate, giving Rath a glare that said 'You're in trouble.'

Rath shrugged. He didn't care. Ruwalk couldn't do anything to him anyway. Besides, he was too busy watching Cesia from the corner of his eye. She glanced over at him as she talked to Ruwalk and Rath quickly stormed off. Cesia blinked after him. Had he been watching her? She sighed. There was no way he felt anything but contempt for her. That fact had already been established. But he _had_ saved her...

* * *

Rath punched the wall of his room, startling the napping Fire. "Dammit!" he exclaimed, hitting the wall again. Cesia had seen him staring at her, he was sure of it! What would she think now? Rath looked at Fire.

'What's wrong, master?' the dragon questioned, looking at his master nervously.

"Nothing, Fire. Nothing important..." he replied. Fire didn't believe him, but let it slide and tried to go back to sleep.

There was a quick knock on the door and both dragon and knight looked over. "Mister Rath? Ruwalk has called a meeting. He wants you there."

"Coming..." Rath mumbled. Fire sighed and hopped onto his master's shoulder. He could nap later.

Rath walked quickly to the meeting room, mumbling to himself about stupid duties.

When he opened the door, the other Dragon Knights, Ruwalk, Tetheus, and Cesia were already there. He assumed Lady Rasalene was with the sick Dragon Lord. Rath glared at the Yellow Dragon Officer. "What's this all about?" he questioned, collapsing unceremoniously into a nearby chair.

"This is about the Dragon Lord's health," Ruwalk replied, making sure everyone was listening, "he can't go on much longer..."

"Good. It's about time that man died..."

"Rath! You can't say things like that!" Cesia protested. Rath had just opened his mouth to argue when Ruwalk interrupted.

"This means, Rath," he said, shooting the boy a warning glare, "that you need to start training to rule. So that you can take the throne."

"The kingdom is doomed..." Cesia muttered. Tetheus hid a grin while Rath glared at her.

"And Cesia, seeing as you have the Dragon Eyes, you also have to undergo some training so that you can become the next Queen," Ruwalk continued.

"WHAT?! I-I...I have to marry RATH?!"

"Don't sound so excited..." Rath muttered dejectedly while Thatz snickered in the background and Tetheus fought to control another grin.

"But...he's a...I can't...he doesn't...I can't marry _Rath_!"

"Well, I don't wanna marry you either!" Rath retorted childishly, crossing his arms and glaring at the wall.

"Rath. Cesia. Whatever problems you have with each other, resolve them now. The future of the Dragon Kingdom relies on the two of you," Ruwalk interjected, trying to avoid a full-out war in the meeting room.

"Screw the future! I won't marry her!" Rath exclaimed, jumping up from his seat, causing Fire to fall off of his perch.

"Rath, you were the one that pointed out she had the Dragon Eyes," Tetheus replied slowly, still leaning against the wall.

"You would have if I hadn't--" Rath spat.

"This is all your fault Rath!" Cesia yelled, glaring at him with tears in her eyes before storming out of the room.

Rath blinked, a bit taken aback, before grabbing Fire and storming off himself, leaving the other four in the room wondering what they should do.

**Yeah, so...I realized that I had deleted all my former fan fictions and had yet to put anything else up, so I found this gem on my computer and decided to upload it. It was written...probably a year ago? There's part of another chapter written as well, so I guess I'll try to finish that...**

**But yeah. I just read the final volume of Dragon Knights! This is obviously set right after Cesia was kidnapped and won't follow the actual plot of the series...**

**I must say, the ending of the series was bittersweet...but it's still my favorite manga series ever, I believe.**

**I should probably write myself a profile or something...hmm...**

**Thanks for reading!**

**FantasyStar**


	2. Chapter Two: Together

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Dragon Knights. ****Mineko Ohkami does. But I do own a horse. His name is Ernest. But that's beside the point.**

**Rating: T. Still because I said so. Still probably not.**

**Emerging**

**Chapter Two: Together**

Cesia threw herself onto her bed in tears. She knew that Rath hated her, and she wished she could hate him back. But she couldn't. For some reason she actually _liked_ the annoying Fire Knight...Future Dragon Lord. But to get married? That was too much. She didn't want to get married to someone she knew would never love her. They were always fighting. How could they run a kingdom together? This was stupid, she decided. If the future of the Dragon Kingdom relied on their marriage, it was doomed. The Dragon Kingdom should just fall apart right now and save itself the trouble.

Not only was Rath a stupid, spoiled brat, but she was sure he cared less about the kingdom than what Thatz ate for breakfast! He wouldn't keep it safe. He wouldn't even try. She knew that he hated the Dragon Tribe as much as he hated the Dragon Lord. Why would he run their kingdom? The Yokai-turned-Dragon-Knight obviously wasn't happy about the fact that he had to rule the kingdom, though he was happy about the current ruler's illness. Knowing Rath, he would abandon the Kingdom when he got into trouble. Or he would use his new power to the wrong ends. She couldn't let that happen.

But could she keep him in line? If they had to get married, wouldn't she have some power to? She could help keep the kingdom from falling apart. She actually cared enough to do so. The Dragon Lord had saved her. She owed him that much. Cesia sighed and got up from the bed, drying her eyes. She needed to find Rath. They needed to talk about this before anything else happened.

* * *

Rune was sitting under a tree serenely, watching Rath pace nearby with Fire perched on his head. To him, it was obvious that Rath and Cesia cared for each other more than either let on. Neither seemed to think that their feelings were reciprocated, so all rune could do was sit back and hope they admitted it eventually. With an impending wedding, now seemed like a good time to him. But Rath had a tendency to be unreasonable and Cesia had a habit of being...stubborn.

Rath stopped suddenly and turned toward Rune. "You know what the problem is, Rune?" The Water Knight shook his head. "It's not that I don't want to marry Cesia..." he explained, sitting down next to his attentive friend, "It's that _she's_ annoyed by _me_. And that annoys me. And it's not even just that..." Rath sighed and Rune motioned for him to continue. "I don't want to rule the kingdom. I don't really care about it. Honestly. On one level, I'm glad to be rid of the old man...on another, I wish he'd get better so I wasn't forced into doing this..." Rath concluded slowly. Fire sighed slightly, looking up at the tree.

Rune sighed again, looking over at Rath. "Look. rath. Even if _you _don't care about the kingdom, Cesia does. Marrying her gives you a Queen. You wouldn't have to make decisions on your own. I'm sure she'd be willing to help..."

"She probably doesn't think I can do it..."

"That's not what I said. I said she'd probably willing to help you. If you stop being such an ass to her."

"My pride won't allow it."

"Won't allow what? You to stop being an ass?" Rath glared. "You wouldn't allow her to help you make decisions?"

"No. She couldn't do any better."

"If you act like this, then you won't stay happily married for long..." Rune warned.

Rath sighed. "I don't think 'happily' belongs in a sentence describing my impending wedding."

"Lady Rasalene is happy for you."

Rath grinned at Rune. "'Course she is. She wants to dress Cesia up. Like a doll or something. _That_ is something worth seeing..."

"I'm sure it will be quite the sight..." Rune laughed, shaking his head. It was true that Lady Rasalene loved dressing Cesia up. Rune hoped that she would get to for the wedding...if Rath didn't run away before it could happen.

* * *

When Cesia found Rath, he and Rune were laughing about something underneath a tree. Cesia wondered what they were talking about as she walking up. "Rath?" she asked. Rath turned to her while Rune continued to smile to himself about something. "Can I talk to you?"

Rath glanced at Rune, who shrugged back, just as clueless as he was, and got up to go find Thatz. Rath looked back up at Cesia and patted Rune's vacated spot, inviting her to sit down. "'Bout what?" he questioned, shooing Fire off of his head as Cesia sat down. The dragon went to sit in Cesia's lap instead, curling up to sleep.

Cesia pet the dragon absentmindedly as she avoided looking at Rath. "Well...I just want to get a few things straight..."

"Continue..."

"First, you're the heir to the throne?" she questioned, wondering why she hadn't known that before.

"Sadly."

"How'd that happen?" she wondered out loud.

"Long story..."

Cesia glanced over at him skeptically while Fire raised his head drearily.

"Technically...I'm his blood brother," he replied, straightforward. Cesia hoped that would continue for the rest of their conversation.

"How?"

"Like I said, long story."

"Will you tell me?"

"Maybe later."

"Maybe?"

"Um...no. Never will."

Cesia blinked. At least he was being honest. "Oh...okay then..."

Rath caught her disappointment and sighed. "Just ask Ruwalk." Fire nodded emphatically.

"Okay..." Cesia replied, smiling at the dragon as she made a mental note to do so. "Second. You don't actually _want_ to rule, correct?

"Correct."

"Then why are you taking the throne?"

"No other heirs," Rath replied simply, looking up to the darkening sky.

"Oh. Why?"

"Rasalene can't have children. Nadil cast a spell on her," Rath replied bluntly.

Cesia was a bit taken aback, but quickly got over it, glad she hadn't been yelled at yet by the temperamental Fire Dragon Knight for sticking her nose in his business. "I see...so, third. _I'm_ the next Dragon Queen?"

"Yes. You have the Dragon Eyes," Rath replied, looking over at her.

She looked back at him. "Which means I have to marry you."

"Only because I'm the heir."

"Right," Cesia nodded, "Last...do you _want _to get married to me?"

Rath blinked at her, "The idea is bothersome..." he replied simply.

"Oh," she replied.

"...but I think I'll get used to it..."

"Really?"

"Well, yeah. Eventually. It's gonna happen either way..." Rath explained with a sigh, "Besides. I can't wait to see what Rasalene dresses you up in!" he continued with a devilish grin.

Cesia laughed. "I'm a bit worried about that..."

"You probably should be..." Rath responded with a laugh, looking back up at the sky, "but I'm sure you'll look beautiful..." he added in a whisper, standing up and stretching before picking Fire up from Cesia's lap. Cesia blinked at him, wondering what he had just said. "Cesia? You coming to the castle for dinner?" Rath questioned, bringing her back to reality.

"Oh! Yes," she replied as he offered a hand to help her up. She took it and stood up, brushing off her skirts before following him to the castle's dining room.

* * *

After dinner, Cesia followed Ruwalk back to the Dragon Lord's office. She still needed to ask him how Rath became the heir to the kingdom's throne. "Ruwalk?"

"Yes, Cesia?" came his tired reply as he sat behind the desk with a heavy sigh.

She decided she should get straight to the point and hope for the best. "How did Rath become the Dragon Lord's heir?"

"It's a long story..."

"That's what Rath said!"

"You _asked_ him?!"

"Yes. Of course I did! I want to know! Should I not have?"

"It's a touchy subject for those who know," Ruwalk replied vaguely.

"Which includes...?"

"Lyokeon, Rasalene, Alfeegi, Kai-Stern, Tetheus, myself, and Rath, of course."

"But two of those people aren't even _alive _anymore..." Cesia replied slowly.

"Yes. We try not to let people know. Especially Rune. So, if I tell you, you must keep it from him. At all costs."

"Why?" she questioned, confused. Why couldn't Rune know? Wasn't something like this important?

"You'll understand after I explain. Do you want to hear the story?"

"Yes. I'd like to know."

Ruwalk sighed, rubbing his temples. "Okay then. When Rasalene was saved from Nadil, Illuser died."

"I knew that."

"Well, after that a creature started ravaging the empire, killing everything. It's largely responsible for the fairy massacre, including the Fairy Elder, Rune's Mentor..."

"Oh..." She hadn't known about that.

"So, Lyokeon and the Dragon Officers went to stop the monster. During the fight, the monster drank some of the Dragon Lord's blood and lived..."

Something clicked in Cesia's brain. Rath had said he was technically Lyokeon's blood brother. "Wait! _Rath_ was that demon?"

Ruwalk nodded, "Let me continue. So, Lyokeon placed a spell on him and gave him the Light Dragon Amulet, much like yours. Without it, Rath becomes unconscious, leaving him susceptible to the old demon coming back out. It's a safety device."

"Oh," Cesia grabbed her own Amulet, "So, Rath has the Dragon Lord's blood inside him? And that makes him the only eligible heir?"

"Yes."

"Wow...so...I'm marrying an evil demon...?" she replied, blinking at Ruwalk.

He laughed nervously, "I guess you could put it that way, but Rath wouldn't like it. He cares for people, and the kingdom, more than he lets on."

"So...if he's a demon, what's with the demon hunting obsession?"

Ruwalk chuckled. He would like to know the answer to that question as well. "Kai-Stern was the only person he talked to..." he answered with a shrug

"Oh. Well, thanks for explaining to me."

"You're welcome," Ruwalk replied with a smile.

Cesia nodded and walked out of Ruwalk's office. Rath was a demon like her...that was new, a little. She _had_suspected something when she had found the amulet, but nothing like that. Rath had single-handed killed off most of the fairy population in the kingdom. Cesia sighed and wandered outside to do some thinking under the stars.

* * *

Rath was sitting in a tree talking to Fire when Cesia wandered out. 'Look! There she is!'Fire exclaimed when he caught sight of her from his perch in the tree. Indeed, the two had just been talking about Cesia. Fire had been telling Rath all the things he liked about her while Rath was complaining about what he had dubbed 'Doomsday'. Rath looked down from the tree, watching Cesia as she walked past his tree. "What's wrong?" he asked suddenly, noticing the thoughtful look on her face.

Cesia jumped, startled at the sudden question. "Rath? Is that you?" she asked, peering up into the tree when Fire hopped down onto her shoulder.

"Who else could it be?" he replied, jumping down from the perch on his tree branch and landing in front of her.

She rolled her eye at him. "Many people," she replied. Fire nodded emphatically from her shoulder.

Rath ignored them. "Whatcha thinkin' about?" he questioned, sounding like a small child.

"Um...nothing..." she replied uncomfortably, not eager to discuss Rath's past with him. Fire and his master exchanged a look.

"You talked to Ruwalk, didn't you?"

She nodded silently, looking away from him.

"It bothers you, doesn't it? You hate me now..." he replied, looking down at the ground.

"No! I don't hate you Rath! I mean...I always figured you were hiding _something_..." she replied, glancing at Fire for help. The dragon shrugged at her.

Rath looked back up at her. "You _don't_ hate me?" he questioned again.

"No, of course not..." she replied. Fire grinned at Rath, giving him an 'I-told-you-so' look.

"Please don't tell Rue...he'll hate me..." Rath mumbled, looking back at the ground.

"I won't tell him. Promise." Cesia assured. Rath grinned up at her.

"Good. Now let's not talk about this anymore. Ever." he replied, sitting down against the tree. Fire hopped down and curled up in his lap. Rath scratched the dragon's head as Cesia sat next to him.

"Is there anything else I need to know?"

"How to rule the Dragon Kingdom."

Cesia glared. "That's _your_ job."

"I don't want to..." Rath whined back, "you should help. Besides. You don't _really_ trust me to do it myself, do you?"

Cesia glared at him. Damn him for being right. "No. I guess not..." she sighed, defeated.

"Then you need to know how to do it!" Rath replied with a grin, thinking of ways to pile all of his work onto her instead.

Cesia rolled her eyes at him, looking up at the stars. She yawned loudly. She hadn't realized how tired she was.

Rath was surprised when Cesia's head hit his shoulder. He looked over at her, raising an eyebrow at Fire. 'She's asleep,'the dragon proclaimed. Rath sighed. Why did she have to use him as a pillow? He carefully slipped out, picking up the sleeping girl and carrying her back to her room.

Fire followed his master back to his room with a smile before curling up next to him on the bed for a good night's sleep.

* * *

**Well, a second, somewhat revised chapter. This chapter is the last of the already-written segments of the story. The rest will come off the top of my head. Yay! "**

**I still have some summer classes to do, though, so updates might be a bit slow because of varying workload.**

**Please Review!!**

**Thanks, FantasyStar.**


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